Does anybody have any info on thermal energy/solar energy, and how it realates to seasons?
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Answer:
The earth rotates on an axis. In the summer, your hemisphere is tilted towards the sun. This results in longer days, and the sunlight hitting the earth more straight on.
In the winter, your hemisphere is tilted away from the sun. This results in shorter days, and the light hits the earth at a greater angle. More light is reflected off the atmosphere and off the earth itself, which contributes to less heat absorbed. Also, the same area of sunlight is spread over a greater area (like shining a torch sideways along the ground), this reduced density of sunlight on the earth also means less heat is absorbed.
The seasons are more distinct further from the equator where the tilt has more of an effect. On the equator, there are actually 2 longest and 2 shortest days each year and less distinct seasons, as when the earth is on either side of the sun (during autumn/spring seasons) the sun is directly above the equator, no matter which side of the sun the earth is on.
well solar energy would be weakest in winter when the sun is weakest and would be best around the equator when the sun is strong all year round. not sure about thermal. Thermal should be the same for all seasons. Is this for chemistry? I had to do something similar junior year.
The seasons are caused by the tilt of the earth. In the northern hemisphere the earth is tilted toward the earth in our summer months. At the same time, the southern hemisphere is tilted away and its winter there.
It is the more intense rays caused by the earth being tilted toward the sun that causes increased temperatures in summer.
I suppose there is more thermal energy in locally during the summer, but considering the earth as a whole thermal energy probably remains fairly even year round.
Well, it is fun to note that we are closer to the sun in winter than the summer. The difference is the earth axis' angle towards the sun. In winter we are tilted so the rays from the sun hit us in an angle so less heat is absorbed. This is not the case in summer, when we are further from the sun, but the angle is closer to 90 (for the northern hemisphere), so we get a lot more energy from sun's rays.
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